It remains to be seen whether people really want to watch vertical content on horizontal television screens, but many filmmakers and creators were confident that their latest projects would do well at Alza, New York City’s first microdrama film festival. Founded by former Tribeca Festival COO Pete Torres, Alza, which took place October 16-18, was billed as a showcase of “the creativity, innovation and growing cultural impact of stories created for the vertical screen.” The festival featured a selection of microdramas and film premieres, as well as industry-focused panels with executives who seemed to genuinely believe that vertical entertainment will be an integral part of the future.
That proposition seemed rather dubious to me when I sat in an AMC theater in Manhattan to watch a screening of director Jerry Bradford’s vertical adaptation of Pride and prejudice and the original The billionaire’s broken vote starring Eric Roberts. Although both projects were feature-length films, they were filled with jarring cuts and abrupt soundtrack changes that reminded me of how films are divided into short “episodes” for microdrama applications. That wasn’t a big problem with shorter series like the horror novel. blood surfer or video collections like “Glam Struts,” by disability rights activist Lachi Music. But it was still very strange to see content that was clearly intended to be viewed on phones projected in the center of giant screens in the same theater that is currently being shown. resident Evil, The social reckoningand You can see everything.
Most fans of vertical videos and microdramas consume them through their mobile devices, but platforms like Instagram and Vurt have been rolling out dedicated smart TV apps that are designed to keep vertical video viewers glued to their couches. The popularity of YouTube, which can be accessed in many different ways, has scared major streaming services like Disney Plus, Netflix and HBO Max into experimenting with vertical clip streams. Alza was full of people who were confident they were leading the fight to legitimize vertical content as an art form that will revolutionize the entertainment industry. It cannot be denied that some microdramas have had great success, but Alza’s programming left me doubtful that the future is vertical.
As strange as I personally found much of what was playing at Alza, it seemed to entertain some of the other festival-goers, many of whom were middle-aged women. None of the screenings were packed, but while watching some gripping and romantic dramas, I was surprised to hear peals of laughter and gasps coming from the front of the theater, where festival staff were encouraging people to sit down for the best viewing experience.
“We’re creating content that speaks to mainstream women who are part of this mobile-first movement.”
Attracting female viewers has been one of the main goals of GammaTime, the microdrama platform founded by former Miramax CEO Bill Block. When I spoke with Block and GammaTime’s head of development, Amy Sullivan, they told me that the platform’s content library has been designed to appeal to viewers and their general moods at different times throughout the day.
“We’re creating content that speaks to mainstream women who are part of this mobile-first movement, who use their phones in the mornings, afternoons and evenings,” Sullivan explained. “We have easy watches, we have romantic comedies and we have things that are a little racier, but not too raunchy, for maybe later in the night. We’re trying to meet everyone where they are at every moment of the day.”
Block pointed to daytime television viewers as a demographic that GammaTime has been especially interested in recruiting. Although soap operas remain very popular in the United States, their overall ratings have been declining in recent years as people’s attention has shifted elsewhere. Block insisted that, rather than disappearing, traditional daytime TV viewers have been migrating to other sources of entertainment, such as on-demand streaming services and social media platforms.
“They’re still here, but they’re watching this while pretending to do some work at the office,” Block said, referring to people who turn on microdrama apps for a quick laugh. “They are also at home, but this It is the new daytime schedule, the new schedule from 5 to 6 pm and the new schedule from 10 pm plus.”
Block and Sullivan noted how, even when overall production costs are kept low, operating as a successful studio is still very expensive. It takes a lot of money to reach different demographics of potential viewers while maintaining various advertising partnerships, which is why GammaTime has outsourced much of its marketing efforts overseas.
“We have an advantage in Tel Aviv and, honestly, I would say the brains of the operation are our partner Slava Mudrykh and his customer acquisition, artificial intelligence and marketing teams,” Block said. “Because this is all Instagram and TikTok, that’s where you get [new users.]”
“There is so much nebulosity in this space, and it seems like a lot of times no one is looking at what they are doing.”
Microdramas are often characterized by AI-generated special effects and melodramatic soap opera energy, and I saw plenty of both in many of the projects I screened during Alza. As more companies try to build a presence for microdramas in the West, it’s still a little difficult to imagine this type of content taking off like it has in China. Although Salvador Paskowitz—who co-wrote The Age of Adaline — won Alza’s best director award for his 90-minute comedy Scaleexpressed some skepticism about the potential for verticals/microdramas to be a lifeline for filmmakers and actors who have been struggling to find production work in Los Angeles. In Paskowitz’s view, this type of entertainment has ceased to be a viable way for production workers to develop their careers due to the sudden influx of generative AI.
“Companies like ReelShort and DramaBox were kind of the first wave of these new verticals, but because they’ve gone so crazy with AI, I think of them as cruise ships that have run aground,” Paskowitz told me. “There are a lot of American companies now that smell an opportunity, but there’s so much fog in this space, and it seems like a lot of times no one is really looking at what they’re doing.”
Paskowitz believes that filmmakers owe it to their audiences and the brands they work with to make projects that truly look good. He also thinks that because studios that want to become the “HBO of verticals” now have an “AI button to press,” they are losing sight of what people really want to see. Paskowitz insisted that using Gen AI in any capacity for film production is a slippery slope that can quickly lead to the elimination of the human element. That’s why, he said, that’s why Scale It was produced in a traditional way.
Image: Andru Marino
“I’m even against doing hybrid productions because it’s easy to start taking shortcuts and the audience is going to see it,” Paskowitz explained. “That idea gives me chills because it starts with, ‘Let’s replace that tree, let’s replace all these buildings, let’s replace all the background work.’ And then at some point it’s, ‘Look, we’ve come this far.’ Let’s replace all the actors.”
Something that stood out to me as the festival progressed was how, while some projects featured elements of AI, the vast majority of them featured human actors who seemed very proud of their work and excited to share it with the public. These microdramas may not win any awards outside of Alza, but there are real people making them. That might also be why I was so surprised to hear Block jokingly say that the rise of vertical content “is part of the decline of the West.”
After our interview, Block and Sullivan repeatedly emphasized that they were not serious, which may be true given the line of work they are in. But even if Block was just joking, his words stuck with me because I feel like there may be some truth to the idea of decline. Vertical production/microdrama has become a multi-billion dollar industry because we live in a society that encourages us to engage with almost every aspect of our lives through the small screens that remain in our pockets. It’s no surprise that Hollywood sees vertical microdramas as the next big thing. But their cheesiness, mediocre production values, and formulaic storylines don’t exactly make them feel red carpet ready. treatment.
Additional information by Andru Marino.
